Red carpet secrets: Celebrity cosmetic procedures

As we all know, there’s a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to celebrity beauty. Especially during red carpet season, Hollywood’s elite actors and songbirds spend their time at the doctor’s office getting nipped, tucked, peeled and lasered—all in the name of youthful radiance. At a recent info session about Oxygenetix, a post-procedure foundation and moisturizer line, Oxygenetix founder Barry Knapp answered our questions about red carpet prep in California.

Julianna Margulies of The Good Wife, age 47. Photo by Keystone Press.

What kinds of procedures do celebrities get to prepare for awards season?

They’re using laser, of course. Usually a light IPL [Intense Pulsed Light] laser to clarify their skin and take off the dead layers on the epidermis. Preparing for awards season, many doctors work for six months with their celebrities. The celebs work with their makeup and hair people at the same time, so it’s a very engineered process.

What is the typical down-time for something like that?

It depends on the person and their skin. Some people cut themselves and they’re healed in a day. Other people cut themselves and two months later they still have a cut. For those that heal poorly, they’ll get procedures that are more injectable. A big thing now is the injectable facelift, where between a freezer and a filler such as Restylane or Botox, you can literally change the structure of the face.

But you’re going to have some bruising?

Yes, but it’s better than going in for a blepharoplasty [a process where a doctor removes excess skin and fat around the eye]. That’s even more difficult to get over. So that’s why the new injectables are hurting the surgery business. Restylane lasts about a year. Botox is going to last about six months max. So the celebrities will gauge: I’m going to get Restylane first, and then Botox just three months before the event so there’s no bruising.

Why is it important to avoid water-based makeup after a procedure such as a peel, laser or surgery?

If water’s your first ingredient, there has to be a lot of preservative. If you’ve had a procedure, the preservative is going to cause stinging or burning.

Made with aloe barbadensis leaf juice preserved with a small amount of clove oil, this breathable foundation will not irritate wounded skin. It is currently used by the casts of Glee, Two Broke Girls and The Big Bang Theory.